Today's Meditation
Read Romans 1:1-15
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, 6including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. 9For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, 10asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. 11For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. 14I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish 15—hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
I don't think we fully grasp the understanding and importance of this particular passage to the church in Rome. The Messiah, God's anointed one, Savior, Son of God, was to come from among their own to redeem them back to God. In Hebrew understanding at the time, the peoples of the rest of the world were outside the realm of God's care, unfit for salvation. God had come to them, and only them, as revelation. God had come to them, and only them, repeatedly over their history. They traced their history back to the time of Adam and Eve. They were careful to only include the lines that specifically traced these roots and only these roots. They were God's chosen people. When Christ came, in their belief, Christ came to them and them alone.
Christianity was a movement among the Jews. Those who followed Christ believed that Christ had come to fulfill their own ancient prophecy, to complete God's work among them. They had no real interest in the beliefs of others, outside of Judaism.
Here, Paul addresses the church in Rome and the Gentiles, a term often used to simply describe non-Jews in one lumped category. In doing so, Paul takes a huge departure from the original intent of the movement; mainly, that in Christ, God's salvation is given to all. God's redeeming work through Christ's birth, life, teaching, healing, death and resurrection is available to all. Verses 1-4 lay out in a very concise manner the history of where Christ came from and what relationship Christ had with God and the people of God. Then in verse 5, it lays out something new that had never been stated before..."to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name."
I'm often at odds with Paul, as most of you know; but here, in my opinion, was the true beginning of what became known as the Christian Church, a complete departure from the concept that the One God - our Triune God (in the form of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), was a Universal God. A God who is available to and who redeems everyone.
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